Hey everyone!  I hope you’re doing well. We started out the week with a great video from Joe, Tracey, and Heather. I thought I’d stay with the video blog format for a while, as I’ve been capturing some outstanding stuff here in Chicago. (We’re here until Thursday.)  Well, a few of the vids are “okay,” but the bulk of them are absolutely amazing, so be sure to check in every day for these great Chicago vids.  (BTW, I’ll dub this series, “The Chicago Raw Food Scene,” although partially misleadingly so, as the videos are not always *about* Chicago, per se. Rather, we shot all of the videos *in* Chicago. So, pardon the slightly misleading banner graphic.)

Anyway, here’s one I shot at a place I almost can’t recall the name of. It could have been called “Farm Fresh” or something like that. I only stopped there in hopes of finding something for my dog to eat, but was absolutely blown away by their produce department.  It’s like “You know you’re a raw foodie when … you get excited about a produce department!”  More commentary after the vid:

So, as I was saying, maybe this isn’t so impressive if you live in New York or, even better, L.A.  But, to someone from Pittsburgh, this kind of variety and selection — and of course pricing — was almost unbelievable. I mean, we have our own co-ops, our large chains, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, etc. All of these look pretty much the same anywhere I’ve ever been. But THIS? Wow… a whole different league.

Seriously, pineapples for $1.49?!!  I think we had a special sale once in Pittsburgh where they were like $3.49 or something. And even in Pittsburgh, where the most common food-oriented question is “You want fries and cole slaw on your cheese steak?”, people still took advantage of the $3.49 sale. But, most of the time, they’re $4.99 at the lowest. At $4.99, I ususally say, “Wow, let’s grab a couple!”  But, $1.49 is absurdly cheap! And there are millions of them here at this store — and there’s no angry Black Friday-esque crowd trampling over each other to get at one!

I was just reading Jay Kordich’s Facebook stream tonight. He posted that it takes two years to grow a pineapple. Honestly, I could spend two years just thinking about this and I wouldn’t understand the math here. How could something that takes two years to grow sell for $1.49?  I mean, I understand that things are cheaper in volume. But, these things still have to be planted, nurtured, harvested, packaged, sold to a middle-man, shipped, sold to a retailer, shipped again, unpacked, and repriced at a profit for the retailer. How can all of that get done at $1.49? And, if it’s possible to do that at $1.49, then why are other fruits so insanely expensive?  (That question is partly rhetorical, as I suspect I know some of the answer. Mostly, this is just my own astonishment showing through!)

Anyway, aside from the fact that I’ll be purchasing about 50 pineapples Thursday before leaving here, I suppose it may also be showing through that we’re having a good time in Chi-town. So, do stay tuned as much of what we have coming this week (and possibly into next week) is truly profound. I promise!  It’s so profound that you’ll be saying, “Wow, I’m SO glad I voted for Pure Jeevan as best raw food blog in that best of raw event!”

BTW, I’m also including this post under our category, “Produce Buying Tips,” as I suppose one tip could be: Live in a huge city.

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Wow, it’s been four months since we’ve run an article in our “Produce Buying Tips” series! Well, in today’s installment, we want to remind you that our tips don’t stop at the grocery store; you want to make sure you store your produce properly once it is at home to keep it fresh for as long as possible. After all, what good is your amazing organic produce going to do you if it goes bad? (That would be some super-expensive compost!)

Since Wendi has a difficult time right now with many motions involving her shoulders and wrists, I’ve taken over the responsibility of putting our groceries into the refrigerator. (I’m usually the “carry it all into the house” person, and then she likes to put away the refrigerated stuff.) But, wow, who knew so much went into storing vegetables and fruits? I had no idea some things required air circulation, while others needed to be kept in sealed bags. Over the years, Wendi has fine tuned a system for keeping our fridge produce as fresh as possible and for maximizing storage time.

Someday we’ll likely do a video showing how we store our fresh produce, describing the different methods of keeping things as fresh as possible. For now, here are some tips that I’ve learned from her that may be helpful to others as well. This list is likely incomplete, since I’m not actively putting things away right now and it’s tough to recall everything I’ve learned so far.

• Plastic bags used to store vegetables in the refrigerator need to be thick, not overly thin. Our food co-op has thick plastic bags, but most other grocery stores use very thin plastic. The thicker the plastic, the longer the storage time you’ll get for your produce. So, if you have a choice of what bag to use in your store, opt for the thicker ones (and also get the larger sizes, as they’re more versatile once you get home).
        
• Most produce is misted regularly in the store and, while this helps it stay fresh out in an airy retail environment, it’s not great for enclosed refrigeration. The mist on lettuce (which is usually very wet when purchased) will  condense in the plasic bag on the way home. You should drain this extra water from the plastic storage bag before placing in your fridge. Also, for best shelf life, it should be stored standing upright in the bag, which is then tied closed at the top with a lot of air trapped inside. So, place it in the refrigerator so that the lettuce is standing up, not lying down.
      
• Cucumbers should never be stored in plastic bags. They need to be stacked together with air circulating around them.
      
• Sweet peppers should be in a plastic bag, but the bag should be open at the top. If they are placed in the fridge without a bag, they will begin to get wrinkled. If they are placed inside a closed up bag, they will develop mold more quickly. They need to be slightly protected, but not completely closed off so that moisture is trapped.
      
• Fruits should be kept separate from veggies, as much as possible. Some fruits will cause other fruits and veggies to ripen at a faster rate, which is not always desirable.
   
• Herbs should be stored in a similar way to the lettuce. We keep ours in the fridge door so that the herbs don’t get crushed by other vegetables. Keep in mind that many herbs are easily bruised, and will brown if not protected. So, keep them standing up so they stay fresh longer.
   
• Vegetables that stay fresh for a long time (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, beets, turnips, etc.) can be stored in the back of the refrigerator with more perishable items in front. This way you’ll use the perishable items more quickly and don’t have to worry that something is lost in the back of the refrigerator that will go bad.
   
• If you store fruits in the refrigerator, oranges should not be placed in plastic bags. Moisture will build up and you’ll have a mold problem. Apples should only be stored in bags if you are going to eat them quickly. Otherwise, leave them loose so that there is air circulating around them.

There are many storage tips, so if you have specific questions let me know. Maybe it’s something that Wendi has figured out already. She seriously has a gift for storing produce in a way that maintains freshness for as long as possible!

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Jim here… I’d like to mainly talk about organics today, but thought I’d wrap that subject into a longer, rather quirky piece on ranking produce on some sort of a scale that would indicate how awesome (or awful) it is. See what you think…

Have you ever thought of arranging produce into a sort of “heirarchy of quality”? Well, I’m not going to attempt to do that here, but I would like to discuss the concept for a moment in order to at least explain what I’m getting at. While I’ve not yet attempted to do this exercise, I nonetheless occasionally envision a large chart or something that conveys my feelings about how I personally rank the quality of fruits and vegetables I put into my body. This all probably sounds vague, so let me share some examples.

Imagine that you were given the task of assigning a numerical ranking to a vegetable or a piece of fruit. This ranking, say on a scale from 0 to 100 (100 being the best), would indicate the quality of that produce. What qualities of that fruit or vegetable would you consider?  Here are some of my own suggestions:

Freshness / Ripeness.  Obviously, where produce is concerned, the rule is generally “the fresher the better.” I think this is especially true for vegetables as compared with fruits, as many fruits need some time to ripen once picked (e.g., bananas). So, if I were building a chart to rank the quality of fruits and veggies I eat, “freshness” would definitely be one axis. Or, perhaps I’d name this axis “ripeness,” which would allow me to rank fruits and vegetables together.
 
So, a truly ripe banana sitting on my counter today would rank high in this category, even though it was picked in, say, Ecuador, a week ago. Likewise, a head of romaine lettuce picked five minutes ago from my backyard garden would also rank perfectly on the freshness scale.  Store-bought would, by definition, almost always rank lower. And anything over-ripe or slightly browned would rank even lower.

I suppose frozen fruits would rank lower as well, acknowledging that the freezing process lowers the nutritional content somewhat. In general, by the way (since this is a produce buying feature article), we feel it is fine to eat frozen fruits, but we recommend that you do not purchase frozen vegetables since they are generally parboiled prior to freezing, rendering them non-raw. 

Similarly, dehydrated produce may rank slightly lower than fresh, at least as long as the dehydration was done at the right temperature. Some people cite 105 degrees fahrenheit, others 108 degrees, others 118 degrees, and still others claim that even higher dehydration temperatures don’t matter so much within the first hour or so of the dehydration process (after which you would turn it down to whatever you believe the critical enzyme-conserving temperature is). In my experience, I like to err on the cooler side, so I often leave our dehydrator set on 105, which always works fine for me. It’s probably not worth obsessing over, but it is interesting to note the varying opinions regarding temperature.

Local.  A second axis or criterion might be local vs. non-local. As we discussed in the first installment of Produce Buying Tips, there are many great benefits for buying local. Chief among them, as far as nutrition is concerned, would be the freshness aspect described above. Most of the other benefits are not directly related to nutrition; rather, they cater to our natural affinity with the environmental movement (e.g., less shipping, less packaging, etc.). Still, one might be tempted to score certain foods higher when sourced locally. Personally, I would not hold the fact that a banana is Hawaiian against it. After all, Pennsylvania (our current home) has no banana crop. But, I’d certainly feel that a locally grown head of romaine would far surpass a trucked-in one, and would rank that local head higher.

Organic vs. “Conventional.”  Last but definitely not least, we come to the final axis in our imaginary quest to rank all produce via some sort of universal scoring system. I imagine two ways to approach this. First, the short-question approach:  “Is it organic?”  In this simple yet practical appraoah, a “yes” ranks higher than a “no” always.

However our ranking system would ultimately be set up, I think it would have to be weighted so that organic is perhaps the most important factor. In other words, an organic head of lettuce trucked in from 2,000 miles away would be of a higher quality than a locally farmed conventional head of lettuce, and thus should rank higher.

Yet I have to admit just a bit of lingering personal ambivalence here. I’ve changed my opinion a lot over the years, moving more and more in the direction of “organic only” in recent times. At first, I would eat any fruits or vegetables, regardless of whether they were “conventionally” grown or organically grown. But, the more I’ve learned about pesticides and their link to chronic disease/illness, the more I’ve gravitated toward organics.

Also, I have to acknowledge that my taste buds have changed since going raw. I’m now unable to enjoy a conventional apple, for example. (I can tell the difference.)

Yet, I admittedly still cringe at the organic prices sometimes.  So, here’s where we’re at now: Wendi eats exclusively organics. (Besides being opposed to pesticide use, she’s always also been able to distinguish the difference in taste.) I eat mostly organic, but will eat conventional either (1) when I’m out (for example, at a lunch meeting or a raw food potluck), or (2) when I feel that the pesticide risk is low.

So, how do I know what the pesticide risk is?  Well, according to some guides prouced by The Organic Center and FoodNews.org, it’s fairly easy to know what to avoid at all costs and what you may be comfortable eating from time to time. According to both of those guides, the worst of the worst (produce to avoid at all costs, if conventionally grown) would include apples, peaches, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes, carrots, and pears. FoodNews also singles out kale as high-risk, while the Organic Center’s no-no list also includes cranberries, green beans, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, peas, and broccoli.

You’re probably screaming, “What’s left???!!!” Well, lower-exposure crops reportedly include onions, avocados, pineapples, mangoes, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, papaya, and watermelon. So, I’ll quite often eat those, as they’re easier on my pocket book and pose a lower risk. (Still, of course, an organic watermelon would be preferable to me.) A few other items never seem available in organic varieties where I live (grapefruit, for example), so I do buy those from time to time as well.

Oh sure, there are probably some other criteria you might use in your personal ranking system (not that you or I will ever likely take this exercise any further). You could probably add a category for overall nutrition, vitamin content, toxic components, maybe fat content.  But, the above would at least be a good start.

This morning Wendi made blended cantaloupe shakes for breakfast. Let’s see how she did:

Ripeness:  I give it a 90/100

Local:  Not local, but also not a generally available crop locally. Again, 90/100.

Organic?  Yes. 100.

So, that’s 280/300, for a final averaged score of 93%.  Not bad, Wendi! (But, it was 100% tasty!) In the end, even though it was fun to write up and offered a structure within which cover some information, perhaps a ranking system is ultimately rather useless. Reminds me of a quote, in fact, with which I’ll leave you:

“We’re talking about poetry. How can you describe  poetry like American Bandstand? ‘I like Byron, I give him a 42 but I can’t dance to it!’ ” ~John Keating in “Dead Poet’s Society”

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Jim here… Until our home sells (SOON!!!) and Wendi and I launch ourselves into the world as full-time raw food teachers / lecturers / inspiration providers, I’m more or less stuck in the corporate world during the day. While much of what happens in this Dilbert-esque environment is, as many of you likely know, absolutely meaningless, there is nonetheless the occasional pearl of wisdom to be pried from the clammy jaws of the 9-to-5 world. I was, for example, just reminded of a story I heard at a seminar once. Not surprisingly, the seminar pertained to the art of money making. However, there’s another more fulfilling message to it as well.

A large modern newspaper company still uses these ancient printing presses from the 1950s — huge old monstrosities with enough belts, pulleys, and greasy gearboxes to make any modern-day steampunk enthusiast squeal with delight. One day, not long after the old press manager finally leaves the company, the main press breaks down. Manuals are consulted, technicians brought in, engineers asked to take a peek. No one can bring the beast back to life. But there’s a woman on the Internet who specializes in these babies — and, guess what, she’s local! So, they call her in. She listens to their problem and says she can fix it, but it’s going to run them $5,000.

An executive looks over at the staff engineers, the lot of them standing around scratching their heads, and reluctantly agrees to her price.  The woman then pulls a ball-peen hammer out of her bag and gives the main press a hefty whack, just so. Instantly, the press fires up and starts churning out newspapers.  The engineers regard her with the dropped jaws of happy disbelief, but the exec says, “You’re going to charge me five thousand dollars for something that took you a few seconds?”

She replies: “To you, it took only a few seconds. To me, it took 20 years of working with these presses to understand just where to smack it.”

Okay, it was something like that. (I may have embellished a bit here and there.) Anyway, the corporate message had to do with justifying the notion of charging more for your services. But the more universal message behind stories like that is that everyone builds up knowledge about specific things and, in time, it’s very easy to take that knowledge for granted, to be unaware that the things that seem easy to you aren’t necessarily common knowledge among the general population.

So, how does this apply to raw foods?

Well, produce buying is, I suspect, a big one. Sure, everyone in America buys produce. But, we raw foodies truly live for it! (Heck, we live ON it!) And when that’s your level of awareness about your food, you pick up a few tips and tricks along the way that you likely take for granted. So, the purpose of this series, which we’ll run from time to time here, is for us to attempt to become aware of the “produce knowledge” that we have accumulated, and to share it with you — and for FREE (not the $5,000 consulting fee cited above)!

Ooooh, I’m getting hungry just thinking of some of the delicious “produce secrets” I know. (I’ll bet you know some, too, right?  If so, feel free to comment, suggest new installments, or to ask questions as they pertain to this topic!) But, I want to cover these in small sections. Today, for example, let’s talk about… Buying Local.

We love, love, LOVE buying local when possible. But not just ANY locally grown produce: Local organic is where it’s at, IMHO. (After all, what good is a local apple if it’s coated in synthetic pesticides? Right?) So, what are the benefits of buying local organic foods? Well, there are many:

Buying local organic supports local organic farmers. These are the people on the cutting edge of sustainable agriculture — which is probably the opposite of what many people think in the mainstream world. “Cutting edge” doesn’t mean manufacturing a strain of corn with built-in pesticides. (Would you really want to eat that?) I’ve talked with organic farmers (some of the biggest in the world) and organic is actually technologically advanced stuff — only, it’s the technology of leveraging the power of nature.

Buying local organic makes special, smaller crops available to you. Some things just don’t grow well enough to produce on mass scales. So, stopping in at a farmer’s market or subscribing to a CSA (see below) means you might luck out and get hold of something you won’t find in a mainstream grocery aisle.

Buying local is better for the environment because it reduces our dependency on shipping (saving fuel and pollution) and also requires little or no packaging. (Environmentalism vis-a-vis food is actually a complex point that I touched on long ago, here.)

Buying local organic puts better tasting, more nutritious food on your table. The “local” part means it’s going to be about as fresh as is humanly possible (unless, of course, you grow it yourself, which is the pinnacle of rawsomeness, in our view); the “organic” part ensures that your food is the healthiest it can be, as nature intended, with no toxic qualities.

Buying local allows you to interact with the farmers. Quite often, you can direct any questions you have right to the person who grew what you’re buying. Think of how incredible this opportunity is compared to the way most people buy food. Can you walk into a Wal-Mart and ask anyone about the apple crop sitting in those boxes from some other country? I think not. So, as I said atop this list, get to know your farmers. They’ll likely inspire you to start growing your own!

Buying local organic san save you money. This may not apply to your local organic grocer so much. But, when you’re buying from a farmer’s market in particular, you’re generally buying directly from the source. No middleman often translates into savings for you! But, even if you do buy your organics from a local grocer, and even if they’re priced at a premium over mainstream markets, it’s still arguable that organics can save you money in the long run. For example, considering the health implications of chemical pesticides and GMO foods, how much might eating them cost you in the future?

Okay, so I mentioned CSAs above. For anyone who doesn’t know, this stands for Community-Supported Agriculture. I really like the LocalHarvest.org site for explaining the basics (you pay up front and then get a regular “share” of fresh organic produce throughout the season). And as a bonus for anyone in the U.S., there’s a CSA locator feature on that site. (They really should develop that into a worldwide CSA database! If anyone knows of one, drop me an email — rawdiant [at] gmail.com – and I’ll update this post with a better link).

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